Craig A Murray

Information & Details

Craig A Murray is a family business that has been established for over 20 years.

We started out with a deep love and devotion to dogs and our passion and hobby quickly became a career. Wanting to provide the best possible knowledge and education to pass on to our clients, Craig gained education from the USA in Professional Dog Training, Police and Narcotic Dog training, Man Trailing Bloodhounds, Search and Rescue and Cadaver Recovery dogs and Assistance and Therapy Dogs and training. Due to our commitment and professionalism, we have been utilized as permanent part time lecturers at the Queensland University Veterinary Science School for over 13 years.

We are still currently lecturing for the Animal Ethology Course at the University of Queensland Gatton Campus. We have been retained by one of the largest Asian College Groups as special educators under contract to assist in the training of Japanese dog training, grooming, welfare & veterinary students.

Tracey has spent 5 weeks doing a live-in practicum at a Wolf Research Facility in the United States of America to research the similarities and differences between the wolf and the domestic dog. She has also completed a Certificate IV in Companion Animal Services.

Craig & Tracey

Assistance Dog Training

Protection Dog Training

The better we make our team members, the better we are as a business and this only ensures that our clients get the best up to date skills and techniques.

Craig and Tracey have a team of hand-picked, high callabre, ethically minded staff that were chosen for their ability to provide quality, reliable canine correct information and training methodology that has been the hallmark of our business and services for over 20 years. Staff do not get to "buy into" our business as we do not offer the sale of parts of our business as franchises as we believe that ensures us to be in control of the quality of information, services and the staff supplying the required services to our valued clientele.

We are constantly upgrading and developing both our skills and those of our team members and this includes a pathway for them to achieve their dream training objectives.

The Craig A Murray Puppy Kindergartens are designed to correctly target the individual puppy and owner's needs and the pup's temperament and behaviour.

All of our puppy kindergartens are 4 x 1 hour classes per course. The structure of our Puppy Kindergarten is to teach pup’s owners about correct discipline to enhance the human dog relationship, and to teach the pup and owner what is acceptable behaviour patterns to be enhanced, and which unacceptable behaviours should be diminished. We also teach how to prevent fearful behaviours, and how to gain correct structure within the household.

Topics Covered:

Correct socialisation and why it is vital for a great canine relationship

Socialising with adults, children, other races of people and other companion animals and wildlife safely

Toilet Training

Denning principals

How to identify upcoming problem behaviours

Desensitising to novel situations and environments

How to shape the basics of compliant behaviour

How to utilise correct motivators for your pup

Balancing both positive behaviours and how to diminish negative or unwanted behaviours

Identifying your dogs true character and temperament

Juvenile Puppy Classes

We identified that quite a need existed for our clients from puppy kindergarten until the time they started their basic obedience course. For that reason, we were the first to develop a juvenile specific course that most of our clients had requested.

Puppy and Juvenile Puppy Class is held at City Farmers Browns Plains, on a Thursday evening with Cathy and Roxy (pictured above). Puppy class is for pups from 8 to 16wks and Juvenile Puppy Class is for pups from 16wks to 6mths. Please call Cathy to book in for these classes on 0438 520 362.

Puppy Classes are held at City Farmers Beenleigh on Saturdays. City Farmers Beenleigh is located at 3/137 George Street, Beenleigh. Call Tracey on 0400 741 660 to book into this class!

City Farmers Arundel is where we are now conducting Puppy and Juvenile Puppy classes. Call Tracey on 0400 741 660 to book in for class! City Farmers Arundel is located at 1 Telford Place, Arundel.

Craig A Murray Dog Training is now providing a Sunday Puppy and Juvenile Puppy Class at Dress A Dog for pet owners that have other commitments from Monday to Saturday. The Sunday class will be held by Graham Reading and to book in to these classes, please either contact Graham on 5502 9190 or Shelli at Dress A Dog on 5665 8055. Dress A Dog is located at 5/2 Kohl Street, Upper Coomera.

We now offer dog and puppy owners what we term as 'structure lessons' in the family home. This is where one of our trained Instructors will personally attend your home and view you and your family with your pup or dog. This allows us to observe and identify any behaviour problems or behaviours that can lead to upcoming problems such as nuisance or aggression or even fear or any undesirable behaviours.

Structure classes are the step before full behaviour clinics and will fix relationship problems and minor behaviour problems.

If you wish to book a private structure lesson, please call head office on 3208 2046 or 0400 741 660 so we can arrange a convenient and suitable time for you. We encourage the maximum amount of family members to be present so they can demonstrate and enquire regarding individual behaviours the dog does with each family member. This also allows us to ensure the greater number of the family members are all on the same page and are equipped with the same methodology hence greatly enhancing the success rates of the dog and family relationships.

Clicker or Classic Classes

We have now introduced a classic conditioning or clicker class to offer our clients another type of training and fun ways to add to the dog and handler relationship.

We teach you the necessary theory of clicker training and how to shape many types of fun and trick behaviours. This type of training is what we utilise to train our assistance dogs for people with disabilities to do their task work that adds extra support and mobility to their lives. With the clicker training you must have completed the basic foundation obedience course as we believe that the clicker is a great training tool, but can not be utilised to long term success without having correct foundation. We have observed dog owners go into all positive clicker only training for well over a decade and quickly they get reasonable results but just as quickly their results diminish and their dogs will not work. This is why we openly say 'show me any trainer and dog that has been trained solely on all positive clicker training that has great control of their dog under changing heavy stimulation such as the huge public demonstrations which we do under all environments and massive stimulation without excuses'. To date, as a professional I have never seen a great reliable dog in all stimulation that was produced from all positive clicker due to the fact that there is not enough foundation and that is why we utilise basic foundation obedience before and in conjunction with the clicker as an extra tool. This is a good fun way to get more out of your dog!

In-Kennel Training

Animal Welfare

Have your dog holiday with us whilst learning their new training exercises. This particular method of training is convenient for the owner that is continually out of town or just too busy to be able to attend any training with the dog. We offer a ten day stay where the dogs will learn basic obedience exercises. We can also work on some of the behaviour problems that you may have such as dog aggression, toilet training etc. (Please also refer to the Behaviour Modification Consultation page to see a list of unwanted behaviours that may refer to your dog!).

In-kennel training includes training, boarding fees, two baths, food, and a handler lesson. A handler lesson is administered upon arrival of the owner to pick up the dog. This ensures that if the owner has any questions they can have them answered before going back to the old environment. A handout of the training administered is also given to the owner to re-inforce the new learnt behaviours.

Please refer to the kennels below for a location that suits your needs. We are happy to recommend these kennels as professional establishments that do their best to cater to your pets needs whilst they are staying for training.

Ark Animal Welfare Services Ltd is a shelter with a difference. It was established in Yarrawonga, Darwin in 2007 and opened it's doors to the public on the 1st July, 2008. The shelter has wildlife, reptiles, and domestic cats and dogs as their regular visitors that call the shelter home for various lengths of time. Their charter is to supply the public with a dog and cat adoption service and to ensure that they rehome the best possible candidates for the community. Two members of the shelter staff travelled to Queensland early 2009 to attend a training course with Craig A Murray Dog Training. The purpose for this training was to extend the skills of the shelter staff so that they can administer some basic training to the adoption animals before they go to their new owners. Outcomes of that visit also include compulsory pet ownership seminars to new adoption candidates to ensure that people understand the importance of structure in their animals life and to have a realistic expectation of the animal's behaviour. Throughout this pet ownership seminar the shelter staff cover topics such as settling in periods, introductions to other animals in the household etc.

February 2010 saw Craig and Tracey Murray live in at the shelter for a two week period to assist the staff with assessment processes, clicker training for motivational purposes, shaping retrieves and identifying drives and also more advanced obedience exercises. The staff currently run weekly training classes from puppyhood through to adult obedience classes. They also have a wonderful rehoming program that will soon be available online - with questionnaires and assessments before adoption. Whilst in Darwin, Craig and Tracey also took home shelter animals that were identified as having nice drives for working purposes so keep an eye out on their website for progress reports. Craig and Tracey are also proud to be major sponsors of the shelter.

Should you wish to find out more about Ark Animal Welfare Services Ltd, please feel free to call the team on 08 8932 9496

Group Obedience Classes

Behaviour Modification Consultations

We recommend Group Obedience Classes for the majority of pet owners. The benefits of this service is that you are able to train your dog whilst in a distracting environment. This ensures that the level of control that you will have as a handler is enhanced due to a higher level of focus from your dog. By training with distraction and stimulation, you are building a more reliable relationship between yourself and your dog. It will then be likely that by setting patterns of handler focus under stimulation to your dog, you will not encounter typical problems of a lack of control whilst out in the everyday environment.

Our group classes are kept to a smaller number of participants so that each client is ensured of individual quality attention when required. We offer a five week structured class where all participants start and progress together. There are three courses available in the group class format. 10% discount is given to handlers for each additional course attended after the basic obedience course.

Basic Obedience - 2mtr lead

Focus exercise - to teach the dog to target coming in to your left hand side

Heel - to walk nicely on the lead without pulling

Sit, Sit-Stay

Stand, Stand-Stay

Down, Down-Stay

Come to in front - the dog runs in to the sit position in front of the handler

Return to heel - the dog will walk around behind the handler and come to the sit position beside the handler

Column Work

Control Exercises for Sociability

Intermediate Obedience - 5 to 10mtr lead

Sit out of motion

Stand out of motion

Down out of motion

Sit from in front

Stand from in front

Down from in front

Come from a distance

Introduction of hand signals

Advanced Obedience - Off Lead

All exercises to date off lead

Use of verbal commands and or hand signals

We do not use any one particular type of method or equipment. We believe that every dog is an individual and as such should be treated accordingly. When you attend one of our courses, you will be assessed together with your dog and then advised as to which equipment and method would best suit you as a team.

Class Location:

Nerang

Lara Bullen

0401 655 779

Beenleigh

Cathy Lomas

0438 520 362

Elanora

Anthea Holmes

5533 8405 0405 125 117

Miami

Lara Bullen

0401 655 779

Mudgeeraba

Mary-Clare Kenny

0447 984 003

Ashmore

Lara Bullen

0401 655 779

Helensvale Saturday

Craig & Tracey Murray

0400 741 660 0418 741 660

Helensvale Sunday

Graham Reading

5502 9190 0407 374 939

Regents Park

Cathy Lomas

0438 520 362

Mt Gravatt

Mary-Clare Kenny

0447 984 003

Ipswich

Katrina Gomersall

0431 696 866

Gatton

Katrina Gomersall

0431 696 866

Sunshine Coast

Tamara Wightman

0428 678 315

You’ll be surprised how quickly and easily a behavioural problem can be solved - the majority with only one consultation. Behaviour Modification Consultations take approximately three hours in duration. We will come to your home and take you and your dog through an intensive program that will identify why the problem has happened and how to remould the dog’s unwanted patterns into positive lessons that can then be rewarded to reshape wanted behaviours.

We do not believe in giving you solutions to mask the unwanted behaviours, it is far better to be able to identify the problem so that the correct learning patterns can be instilled into your dogs mind. This consultation consists of both theory and practical components. Below are just a few of the dog problems that can be solved through behaviour modification consultations.

Biting

People, dogs & animals

Chasing

Cars, bikes, skateboards, animals & children

Barking

At objects, animals, noises or for no apparent reason

Licking

People, furniture, animals & children

Crying

When left alone, through excitement or for no apparent reason

Urinating

From excitement, fear, poor toilet training

Over Active

When in new areas or situations or when new people are present

Aggressive

Towards dogs, people, animals & children

Fear Responses

Towards dogs, noises, cars, objects, people & children

Jumping

Up On people, cars, beds, furniture & objects

Car Sickness

In all types of vehicles

Disobedience

In all types of situations

Digging

Holes in lawns & gardens or pulling out plants

Chewing

Furniture, cars, toys, shoes & other objects

Pulling

Washing From clothes lines, baskets

Defecating

In houses, cars & gardens

Eating

Faeces, both other animals & their own

Attention Seeking

To relieve the stress of a demanding dog

There is a more substantial amount of work to be done with a multiple dog family as not only are we targeting each individual dog’s problems, but also working on pack order within the family and the dogs. All owners are able to purchase a Behaviour Clinic Success Sheduler that will enable the family to stay on track with the behaviour modifications that will be put into place. These consultations are held from Monday to Saturday within Gold Coast, Brisbane, Toowoomba and Sunshine Coast areas.

Specialised Training

We have trained many students in Obedience Instruction, Puppy Kindergarten Instruction, Tracking for Law Enforcement or Search and Rescue, Mantrailing for lost persons or criminal work, Cadaver Recovery, Chemical Residue Detection, Security Patrol, Drug and elicit substance detection, Police Service Dog Patrol, Dog Temperament and Behaviour.

We can custom build courses to suit your individual requirements and time schedules.